Chapter 10
Bronco
Lauren is lying to me. I hate that she’s not telling me the truth about what she’s thinking. For a horrible moment, I worry she’s regretting what happened between us. But this was the best moment of my life and nothing will ever change that.
Still with her stomach growling, I don’t push her on it. Instead, I help her get dressed, taking advantage of the opportunity to run my hands all over her curvy body. Judging by the heated looks she’s giving me, we’re definitely going to do this again. Food first, though.
Then I carry her into the kitchen. She protests but she doesn’t try to squirm out of my arms. There’s something so right about holding her like this when she’s warm and sated and wearing my flannel.
“What do you want to eat?” I ask as I set her on the kitchen island. She could request any meal, and I’d figure out how to make it. That’s how gone I am for this curvy woman who makes my heart beat fast with just a look.
She eyes me, her gaze traveling from my bare chest to the bulge between my legs. She licks her lips, and I groan, “We’re not doing that not until you’ve eaten something.”
She sighs dramatically. “A sandwich will be fine.”
I make her a sandwich and pass it to her. I notice her gaze on my foot, the one I’ve had multiple surgeries on. It was a long time ago.
“Does it still hurt?” She blushes. “It’s just that sometimes I see you limping, and I think it must still hurt. Then I worry about you and about how you’re always taking care of everyone, and who’s taking care of you?”
Emotion clogs my throat. I don’t deserve this woman.
“It’s fine.” I tell her and focus on eating my sandwich.
“Farm accident?”
“No.”
The silence stretches between us, and I can almost hear her trying to decide what it was. I don’t want to tell her this. I never have before.
“A mission?” she asks.
“Not exactly.”
She narrows her gaze. “There’s something you’re not telling me. What is it?”
“When I learned Vale was missing, I got some of the guys from the farm together. We went after him.”
“Are you saying you went into an active combat zone? How did you even manage to get inside?” She gasps like this is the craziest part of the story. If only she knew what really happened that day.
I give her a look. At the same time, we repeat Vale’s words, “Obstacles are for civilians.”
It’s what he always used to say. He was so proud of being a United States Marine. He lived that pride every single day.
“That’s how you injured your foot?” She guesses.
I shrug. “I would have given my life to have brought him back to you.”
“But you went through all of those surgeries, and you were alone.” She swallows hard.
I can’t complain about this to her. It’s not right, not when she lost her brother. After all, Vale was alone and by himself. Even now, I can’t bring myself to question what his final minutes must have been like. Was he frightened? Was he thinking of his sister and aunt? Did he remember me?
“You should have told me. I would have been there for you,” Lauren insists.
“It doesn’t matter.”
“I wish you would have said something. You’re always the one who’s there for me. I can call you with anything and—” She stops. The look on her face just about guts me, but she shakes her head and finishes the last bite of her sandwich. “Thanks for lunch.”
I frown, not understanding her abrupt mood change. “What’s wrong?”
“I didn’t even know you went after Vale.”
“Because there was nothing to tell you. There was only disappointment and heartbreak at the end of that journey. I didn’t want you to carry that.”
“Well, maybe I wanted to carry that with you. Did you ever consider that?”
I stare at her for a long moment. I can’t tell her the truth without tipping my hand.
Because the truth is that I want to shield Lauren from every bad and awful thing in this world.
And if that means I bear darkness and heartache on my own, then I’ll gladly take that pain.
I’ll endure it because she is sweetness and sunshine.
She sighs softly. “I’m only ever going to be his kid’s sister to you, aren’t I?”
“No, that’s not what this is about.”
“Then what’s this about?”
I hesistate, trying to figure out what to tell her. Finally, I decide to start att the beginning. “I was raised on a farm by a cowboy named Clay. He looked after me. He fed me and clothed me. He played games with me every day, and he taught me to work the land.”
“But he wasn’t your dad?”
I don’t tell her that he never let me call him dad or how damn much that still hurts.
I push back against the pain. Doesn’t matter.
Not anymore. “No, he wasn’t my dad. Whenever I’d ask him about my parents, he would tell me these amazing stories.
They were royalty from another country, and they would be arriving to take me back to the palace any day.
Or he would say they were living in a far flung forest studying the animals, and when I got old enough I would join them. But none of that was true.”
“So where were your parents then?”
“I still don’t know to this day. He passed away without ever telling me. No matter how much I begged, he never would. At some point I figured, they must not have been good people. Maybe he did me a favor.”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t know.”
“I’m not trying to keep you out or push you away. I’m just not used to anyone caring about me.” I step closer to her and cup her face. “Don’t mistake my silence for apathy. It’s anything but that. Not when it comes to you.”
She whimpers my name.
I kiss her, tasting the sweet tea and innocence on her lips. My cock hardens. I want her again already with a need that’s almost feral.
“Bronco…” She calls my name softly.
“I want another taste,” I tell her, getting to my knees. She’s not wearing panties, and my cock grows impossibly harder at the sight of her pink pussy, still slick and swollen from where I took her earlier.
“Wait.” She threads her fingers through my hair. “Only do this if you plan to let me return the favor later.”
Fuck me, the thought of Lauren on her knees for me is too much. I unbutton my pants to ease some of the pressure on my cock. Then I lick that pretty little slit until she’s creaming against my beard and swearing under her breath as she begs for mercy.
When I get to my feet, I grab her hips and drag her half off the counter.
She’s impaled, taking me so tightly in her snug channel.
Sweat runs down my back as I bounce her up and down.
Every motion earns a desperate moan from her lips and another swipe of her nails against my skin.
But this is more than just slaking my physical lust. Something in my chest is cracking wide open.
I’ve tried to hold back, to keep my distance.
But I can’t anymore, and I’m finally admitting it to myself.
Lauren is mine. Always has been, and I’ll never be anything but hers.
The knowledge has me coming, spilling into her at the same time she screams out her pleasure. We’re together in this moment, and I wish it could always be this simple and easy between us.
“That did not happen!” Lauren giggles from her place on the porch swing. She’s snuggled up against my chest, her head resting on me like I’m her personal pillow. A cowboy should be so lucky.
“Swear on a stack of Bibles, that’s exactly what I did,” I insist and chuckle too. The practical joke I played on Ridge years ago still makes me laugh. That’s the thing about serving together. You get to know the other men in your unit so well that you know exactly how to push their buttons.
She shakes her head and goes back to working on her laptop.
She’s been editing photos in between talking with me.
We’ve spent the day together, mainly eating and laughing and sometimes, making love.
Everything with Lauren is easy. Simple. We just fit and rightness fills my chest as I go back to reading my book.
It’s some romantic thriller. Apparently, Emma May’s son writes romance books under the name Eva Nightshade.
The moment she figured it out, she started stocking his books at her registers, and you can’t leave her store without at least one in your cart.
No one is prouder than a mama from Courage County.
After an hour of silence has passed, she nudges me in the thigh, toes digging into my flesh. I like the way it feels too damn much. I like everything Lauren does.
“What do you think?” She spins around the laptop to face me, showing me a shirtless picture of Ridge scowling at the camera.
He’s got a lasso over his head, the intense look in his eye reminding me of that time he roped one of the guys during a flash flood.
Would have lost him if it weren’t for Ridge’s quick thinking.
The land here is beautiful and free, but it’s also wild, untamed, and absolutely brutal if you turn your back on it.
I don’t even know what the fuck I’m supposed to say to Ridge’s photo. Can’t remember if I’ve ever seen him smile. “Looks like a cowboy to me.”
She snorts. “Bree and Joyce would be much better at helping me with this.”
I agree with her just as my phone beeps, and I reach for the ice bag on her ankle to remove it for a few minutes.
We’ve been alternating twenty minutes on and twenty minutes off.
Well, that’s not true. I’ve been alternating.
She’s been sending me looks like she thinks I’m hovering.
Don’t care if I’m being a little overbearing. I want to spoil the shit out of Lauren.
“I’m proud of you,” I tell her as I gently rub the cold skin to warm it back up.
“You mean because of the website I built? It wasn’t that hard,” I tell him.
“No, but that’s impressive too. I’m proud of you because of who you are. How you keep going no matter what happens. How big your heart is and how kind you are to everyone else. You’re a good person.”
She swallows hard and drops her gaze back to her laptop. “Thanks.”
She doesn’t say anything else, and we just sit there in silence for long moments, soaking in the evening air and letting dusk wash over us.
We’re alone and everything is quiet until Ridge shows up. He appears underneath the porch light holding his hat in his hands, and I know that look on his face.
He tips his head to Lauren. “Sorry to interrupt your evening.”
She gives him a soft smile. “No big deal. I know Bronco is a busy man.”
“You got a minute for me, boss?” he asks, even though he’s probably ten years older than me, maybe more. He’s the oldest guy on this ranch, and from what Lauren says, the women are going to go crazy for him at the auction.
I nod to Ridge. “I’ll meet you in our usual spot.”
“Is everything okay with him?” she asks softly when he’s walked away.
“He’s fine. I’ll be back later. Keep my side of the bench warm.” I press a gentle kiss to her lips before I go to find him.
There’s a winding path behind the house that I take until I arrive in the grove of magnolia trees. I planted these trees after Lauren told me that magnolia trees are her favorite. They haven’t bloomed yet, but I’m hoping next summer is the year they finally do.
Ridge is near one of the trees, running his hand along the bench that I made just for Lauren.
“Good craftsmanship,” he compliments, like we’re out here to discuss my woodworking skills, which aren’t nearly as strong as Vale’s were. Except he isn’t here anymore.
“Again?” I ask, the one word causing my heart to pound as hope flares. I’ll never stop hoping that we’ll get to see him again. As much for Lauren as for me.
“There may have been a sighting,” he says in the cautious tone he uses when he doesn’t want me getting excited. He has contacts around the globe that are constantly on the lookout.
I squint at the grainy image of a bearded man on his phone. “It’s hard to tell,” I say, even as a lump forms in my throat. Could this be him? Could this be Vale? Is the nightmare finally over?
“I’ll follow up on it and send you a text message if there’s good news. Are you going to tell Lauren about this?”
I shake my head, because this is the fourth time in two years that Ridge has brought me a grainy picture with the hope that we have found one of the bravest men I’ve ever known. With each disappointment I’ve found myself sobbing and grieving him all over again. I can’t imagine doing that to Lauren.
“What if we do find him? What are you going to say to her then?”
“I’ll cross that bridge when I get to it.”